Title Highlight: Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science

The biographical dictionary of women in science: pioneering lives from ancient times to the mid-20th century

2 vol.: List of scientists by occupation (vol. 2), List of scientists by Time Period (vol. 2), List of scientists by Country (vol. 2)

This two volume dictionary is really more of an encyclopedia in that the entries range in length from a dictionary sized paragraph to 7 pages (Marie Curie). It covers women of all nationalities and time periods with entries on women engaged in scientific pursuits from pre-450 A.D. such as the physician Olympias of Thebes and mathematician Hypatia of Alexandria, to women of the Middle Ages like the physician Agnes of Jerusalem and the nurse Saint Catherine of Sienna to twentieth century scientists including Marie Curie and Margaret Meade. The indexes arranged by occupation, time period and country at the end of the second volume are useful in seeing the wide range of women represented.

Although most of the scientists mentioned are British or American, there are also biographies of women from many other countries, Egypt, Peru and Sri Lanka for example. There are suggestions for further reading given after each entry and each entry’s reading suggestions are divided into one of three categories: primary sources, secondary sources or standard sources.